Pasta with Three Herb Sauce

This recipe calls for spaghetti, but you can use whatever pasta you have lying around instead. it's quite a light dish, so you may want a side of something with it, perhaps a bit of garlic bread.

3 tablespoons parsley
1tablespoon taragon
2 tablespoons basil
30ml chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
salt and pepper to season
100g pasta per person

Step 1
Chop the herbs and add to a food processor with the oil, wine, garlic, stock and seasoning. Puree until smooth. Meanwhile boil some lightly salted water and add the pasta and cook until tender.

Step 2
Drain the pasta well and set aside, add the sauce to an empty saucepan and cook on a high heat for just about 1 minute. Add the pasta, shake or mix to coat well, and serve.

The pasta with Garlic Bread

Treacle Sponge Pudding

This is a deliciously simple pudding that really tastes great. You can really let yourself go crazy if you want to change it, as the simplicity of it makes it so easy to make little alterations. The most common variations include using orange or lemon rind, or syrup instead of treacle, and adding dried fruits.

200g self-raising flour
200g soft light brown sugar
200g butter, softened
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tbsp treacle
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 large eggs


Step 1
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the butter, eggs, treacle and sugar. Mix well with an electric whisk, or whisk, until smooth. Lightly grease a pudding basin with butter, and spoon the syrup into the pudding basin before adding the mixture.


Step 2
Seal the lid and wrap the pudding basin in tin foil, and steam the pudding for 2 hours, checking occasionally on the water level to make sure that it doesn't boil dry.

In the pudding I've made there's no treacle, and there's a little grated lemon rind in the pudding itself. Now if you like a lot of sauce you can make a separate sauce for the pudding out of golden syrup, a bit of water, treacle, sugar, etc. I made mine with golden syrup, lemon juice, and chopped apricots.

Naan Bread

This recipe uses some bread dough from a previous day, usually the day before but it can be dough from a couple of days before. Naan is the bread you have with Indian meals, and in the shops it comes in many flavours, plain and garlic and coriander being two that come to mind right now.

175g of previous day's dough
175ml plain yogurt, room temperature
1tsp salt
7g fresh yeast
225g bread flour

Step 1
Mix the dough, yogurt, salt and yeast in a bowl with a wooden spoon to get a smooth mixture, then add the flour 1 tablespoonful at a time, mixing well after each spoonful. Once all the flour is added, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Return the dough to a bowl and cover with lightly oiled cling film, leave to rise in a warm place for 3 hours, or until trebled in size.

Step 2
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knock back lightly. Divide up into equal pieces and form into balls and leave to rest while pre-heating the oven to 230°C.

Step 3
Roll out each ball into a Naan shape, an oval, around 5mm thick.. Transfer the naan to a baking tray with a sheet as soon as rolling is complete and bake them without turning for approximately 5 minutes.




Naan are easy to add extr flavours to. Garlic and coriander is a classic, but I've made them using a bit of taragon, lime zest, dessicated coconut and garlic.Very tasty, especially with home-made curry.

Garlic Bread with Roasted Garlic Butter

This garlic bread uses roasted garlic to give you a really moreish taste of garlic without the harshness you can get with garlic.

1 bulb of garlic
250g soft butter
salt and pepper to season
approx 3 tsp fresh herbs, chopped
grated rind and juice or half a lemon
olive oil
french bread

Step 1
Rub the outside of the garlic bulb to get rid of the papery skin, but leaving the cloves still attached to the main bulb and still covered with their skin. Using a sharp knife slice off the tips of the garlic, and spread a little olive oil over the garlic. Then wrap the garlic in tin foil, and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 220 °C. When the garlic cloves are soft remove from the oven and leave on the side to cool.

Step 2
Squeeze the garlic from the cloves into a bowl and add the butter, lemon, and herbs before mixing well using a fork to squash the garlic into the other ingredients. Lay out a sheet of cling film and place the butter in the centre before spreading out with the back of a spoon. When flattened fold the cling film over so that the butter is covered completely, taking care to leave a small gap between the edge of the butter and the fold of the cling film. Flatten while taking care not to squash the butter out of the cling film. Move to the fridge or freezer to cool.

Step 3
Slice the french loaf so that you have 3/4 inch thich slices and slip the firm garlic butter between the slices. Wrap in baking foil and put in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for about 20 minutes, in the last 5 minutes of cooking time uncover the bread to allow the topside to become crisp and crunchy.

 

Basic Garlic Butter

A good garlic butter is something that can take a while to get just right. It can go with many things, in a classic garlic bread, inside dough balls, on a pizza, fried with prawns, or even in a chicken kiev. The trick is both in your choice of herbs to bring out flavour, and the garlic itself.

1 bulb of garlic
250g soft butter
salt and pepper to season
approx 3 tsp fresh herbs, chopped

Step 1
Crush the garlic and fold into the butter then add the herbs, and fold again.

Step 2
Lay out a sheet of cling film and place the butter in the centre before spreading out with the back of a spoon. When flattened fold the cling film over so that the butter is covered completely, taking care to leave a small gap between the edge of the butter and the fold of the cling film. Flatten while taking care not to squash the butter out of the cling film. Move to the fridge or freezer to cool.


Garlic butter is a simple, yet delicious addition to food which can really bring out the flavour in a dish.If you don't plan to use the butter immediately then you can stick it in the freezer and keep it for a few months. when you're ready to use the garlic butter you can cut the butter while it's still cold and put it in between the slices of bread to make garlic bread.

Lemony Tomato Sauce and Bacon with Pasta

 This slight variation on the basic tomato sauce, it's delicious and has a slight tang to it.




 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic
2tsp olive oil
2tsp fresh herbs, chopped
grated rind and juice of 1/4 of a lemon
3 pieces of streaky bacon
Pasta

Step 1
Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, and add the onion and garlic reducing the heat. Sweat on a low heat for about 5 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon until the onion goes translucent.

Step 2
Add the tomatoes to the pan add the rind and juice of the lemon, and increase the heat to bring to a simmer and reduce.Season with salt and pepper add some sugar slowly, tasting as you go making sure to keep the lemon flavour but sweetening to lessen the acidity. Take the sauce off the heat and add the herbs.

Step 3
Meanwhile boil some water for the pasta, and add the bacon to a frying pan over a low heat. Once cooked cut the bacon into strips, drain the pasta and place into a bowl first, top with the sauce and then ass the bacon strips.


With this recipe you don't need any oil for the bacon as the low heat will allow bacon to cook in its own fat. You can also add a litte sauce to a pan and add the drained pasta, then shake or mix to coat the pasta with the sauce, as it allows you to use less sauce and keep the flavour while having less.

Basic Tomato Sauce

This is a very basic tomato sauce recipe, and knowing how to make it is really useful as once you can do this then you can make little changes to suit the meal you're having it with.

400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic
2tsp olive oil
2tsp fresh herbs, chopped

Step 1
Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, and add the onion and garlic reducing the heat. Sweat on a low heat for about 5 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon until the onion goes translucent.

Step 2
Add the tomatoes to the pan, and increase the heat to bring to a simmer and reduce. Add the salt and pepper towards the end, then take off the heat and add the herbs. Stir well, then serve over pasta.


Basil is the most common herb used for tomato sauces, but you may want to vary it depending on the recipe. You can also add tomao puree to the sauce to give a bit more flavour and colour.

Focaccia Bread

This recipe is for Focaccia, a very tasty italian bread where you can add things to the bread when cooking to add flavour and texture to the bread. A few good additions are red onion slices, small sprigs of rosemary, slices of tomato, basil leaves, and thin slices of potato.

600g breadflour
2tsp salt
2tsp olive oil
350ml warm water
30g fresh yeast
Pinch of sugar
Sea salt

Step 1
Mix the yeast and the warm water together and add the pinch of sugar to start the yeast off. cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile add the flour and salt to a large bowl, and add the water/yeast mix when ready. Mix well, adding more flour or water if required, until the dough is moist and does not stick to the sides of the bowl. Add the olive oil to the dough and mix well.

Step 2
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, taking care not to mix in too much more flour as the dough needs to be a moist dough. Kneed the dough for about 10 minutes. Put a drizzle of the olive oil into the bowl, then return the dough to the bowl and gently roll it to coat it in oil. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to rise until at least doubled in size or starting to collapse.

Step 3
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide and roll into as many balls as needed. Flatten the balls and stretch them out using your hands into the desired shapes before placing into well greases baking tins.

Step 4
Cover the dough with lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove the cling film and preheated the oven to 220 °C. Lightly drizzle some more olive oil over the top of the focaccia and scatter sea salt over the top.

Step 5
Place the focaccia into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool the bread on wire racks.

If you are adding other flavours and textures to the focaccia then place them on the top when adding the oil and sea salt. Toss in olive oil and gently press into the surface of the focaccia. If adding herbs you can finely chop the herbs and add them to the dough towards the end of step 1 with the olive oil. You can also crumble some soft cheese, like feta or any other soft cheese, over the top before it goes in the oven.











Some pictures of the focaccia I made with red onion, red pepper and rosemary topping on one, and  red onion, red pepper, rosemary, and goats cheese topping on the other.

Roast Potatoes

Roast Potatoes are a staple in any good sunday roast, but can be had whenever as when they're done right you want them with anything and everything. There are mant different potato varieties, and people will always suggest different varieties as best, but the variety I would suggest using is Desiree.

All you need for a basic roast potato is the potato itself and some oil and boiling water. Peel the potatoes, cut into small chunks about the size of a tealight. Add the chunks to the water and par-boil for about 15 minutes, or until you can push a sharp knife in easily. Ten minutes after you put the potatoes on, put a baking or roasting tray into the oven, 200°C, with some oil in about 1cm deep. When the potatoes have finished, drain them and the pan, add a little oil and coat them, generally by putting the lid on and shaking them in the pan. Add the coated potatoes to the oil in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, or until crisp and crunchy. Turn the potatoes at least once during the roasting, ensuring to coat the potatoes with the hot oil to ensure they get crunchy all over.


You can add things to the recipe for different flavours, such as herbs and spices. I find it's best to add a little salted butter to the potatoes before shaking them, insead of oil, as it seasons the potatoes a little for you, and helps them become crunchy. I'd suggest adding freshly chopped rosemary and garlic to the potatoes, as it makes a delightful smell when cooking and a delicious taste when eating. Fresh herbs will always give the best smell and taste, but dried will do just fine if you don't have fresh. With them being such a simple dish it's easy to add little extras to them to change the recipe slightly and cater for your own tastes, so have a think about what you want and do it, make it your own and you won't regret it.

Spice Mix

This mix of spices is something I use quite often as it's easy to make if you have the spices, and you can use it with so many different things. It goes very well with as the major flavouring of cous cous, as a rub on meats, or in a casserole or slow cooker for a bit of spice and flavour to the dish.

1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp corriander seeds
1tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp fenugreek seeds
1tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt and pepper to season
strip of lemon rind


Step 1
Place the seeds into a pestle and mortar and grind them down. Add the olive oil and garlic to the ground seeds and mix well to form a paste. Season with salt and pepper, then add to the dish with the lemon rind.

Basic Bread Dough Recipe

There are lots of slightly different recipes for bread, but I use this on the most as I find it easiest.

500g unbleached white bread flour
115g plain flour
2tsp salt
15g fresh yeast
525ml lukewarm water

Step 1
Add yeast to the water and stir to disolve, add a pinch of sugar and cover with cling film then leave for five minutes. Sift half the flours into a large bowl and add the disolved yeast. Beat well to form a batter, then cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for about three hours or until nearly trebled in size or starting to collapse.

Step 2
Add the remaining a flour a little at a time, beating with your hand. turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes to form a moist dough. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiles clear film and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour until almost doubled in size.


Since this is just for the dough this is as far as I will go for this recipe, but this is the dough I tend to use when I refer to bread dough. This recipe is very versatile and i have used it for loaves of bread, buns, and rolls when cooking on the same day. It's also very good for keeping for a day or two and making other breads like naan, ciabatta, and pain polka.

When mixing the warm water and the yeast adding a pinch of sugar can help the yeast grow, making the bread rise more.

Tomato and Mozzerella salad with balsamic dressing

This is a simple recipe I learned from home, all you really need is Beef Tomatoes, Mozzerella, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Cut the tomato and mozzerella in slices, arrange on a plate with the mozzerella on top and drizzle the vinegar on top before adding seasoning of salt and pepper and some torn or small leaves of basil. You can make a dressing with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a pinch of sugar and the salt and pepper, but it really is so good and simple that you can just use a drizzle of vinegar.

Other tomatoes can be used for the salad, but it is best with the beef tomatoes due to their size. A very good salad to have with a barbecue in the summer, or as a simple and tasty snack.

Thick Vegetable Soup

This is a recipe that I made the other day and I made a few slight alterations to it which I shall represent in brackets.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
4 celery sticks, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 courgettes, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans tomatoes
1.2 litres (2 pints) hot vegetable stock
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
(choritzo chopped)
(wine)

Step 1
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat for 6-8 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Season with salt and black pepper then add garlic, rosemary, celery and carrots and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Step 2
Add the courgettes and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, and squash witht he back of a fork. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Season well with salt and black pepper, then stir through the parsley.

If you use the wine then substitute a large glass of wine, either white or red, for an equivilent amount of the stock. For the choritzo if it's uncooked then add it to the soup before the tomatoes, if cooked then add with the stock to enrich the flavour. Simmer the soup until the liquid is reduced to how you like it.


You can have this soup as it is, or if you prefer you can blend or liquidize it to make it a smooth soup. Have this soup with a good bread roll, and if having it as a smooth soup a crusty bread roll would go well.

Introductions

I'm very fond of good food, and I thought I'd share with people some of my favourite recipes whether they're ones I merely use or ones I have discovered for myself. In my time cooking I have made some delicious meals, and I hope to share some of the recipes with everyone.